Heads Are Gonna Roll
by Angeltree16
Summary: After all, the price of a symbiote on the black market could get him out of the country and settled far away from this disaster of a life. He could start over. Get a new job. A new house. Maybe start a family. Killing Eddie Brock would just be a bonus.
1. Chapter 1

A canister fell from the table and shattered. Jeffrey Price cursed as he stepped around the broken glass. He blinked in the darkness, careful not to touch anything. Couldn't leave fingerprints. Not that it mattered much at this point, but if you watch enough Magnum P.I. reruns, it's just common knowledge; if you're gonna do something wrong, you shouldn't make it too easy for them to find ya.

God this was stupid. So fucking stupid!

Two weeks ago, everything had been fine. He had a job. He was making money. They had really been on the verge of something big. They were so close. _He_ was so close. So close to Mr. Drake finally appreciating his research. Getting funding. Moving out of that shitty apartment. And Jen…

And then Eddie _Fucking_ Brock managed to singlehandedly ruin it all! One asshole with a death wish and it all came crashing down. The authorities had shut down the Life Foundation, all of their research had been confiscated, and now every scientist involved in the symbiote project was on the lam.

Dr. Price scowled at his shaking hands. He wasn't built for a life of running. He really wouldn't last long at this rate. He turned his mind back to the matter at hand. All of the important equipment and research notes had been removed and stored somewhere else, but the cops had still rigged the place with alarms. Maybe they thought some stupid scientist would come back hoping to find something. Guess they were right.

Price made his way back, past the main labs, to a little side door on the left. The space was small and discreet, then again it really wasn't supposed to be noticed at all. That's how Mr. Drake had wanted it. Inconspicuous to everyone, even him.

He pushed the door in with his elbow, wincing at the loud squeak, but again, it didn't really matter. He'd already tripped the silent alarm on the way in. He had two minutes tops before cops swarmed the place. He could still turn back. Go back to hiding in the shadows…sleeping on the street…alone.

He stepped inside.

Despite knowing what he would find, he couldn't help but feel dismayed when he saw his old workspace. No longer crowded with papers, sticky notes, or that dumb plastic plant Jen had given him, it just felt empty. Price shook himself. No time to reminisce. He made his way over to the old supply cabinet in the corner. Turning the handle with his sleeve, the door popped open with a metallic bang. There was nothing inside. In all the months of his research, there never had been.

Squatting down, Price reached into the third shelf from the bottom and punched out the false back. He heard the soft tinkling of test tubes bumping against one another and grinned. Carefully, he withdrew a small box filled with smaller vials. Pride bloomed in his chest despite himself. When Mr. Drake had assigned him this little "side project," he had been thrilled. Naturally only a gifted and respected scientist would be trusted with something life this. Something so top secret, the CEO had wiped his own memory, just to be sure it would never be discovered. Or traced to him.

But that had been a different time. Back then, it had only been a precaution. A last resort that the symbiotes would not, and could not ever, find out about. Now, it seemed, it was Price's only means of survival.

After all, the price of a symbiote on the black market could get him out of the country and settled far away from this disaster of a life. He could start over. Get a new job. A new house. Maybe start a family.

Killing Eddie Brock would just be a bonus.

Price picked the smallest vial out of the case and squinted into its contents. It was thin and clear and as innocuous as his research had been. Barely three milliliters were left after testing. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

Whispered voices sounded down the hall through the still-open door. Price cursed silently. The cops were early. Stuffing his prize deep in his pocket, he haphazardly replaced the box and the false back of the cabinet before making his way to the back of the room. Thank God the vents had latches instead of screws. Standing on a swivel chair, careful not to let it squeak, he wiggled his way into the air vent. Behind him, he heard footsteps and caught the glare of a flashlight in the corner of his eye. He barely breathed until the footsteps faded and the light dimmed. Slowly he began elbowing his way through the shaft, to where he knew an exit would be.

—

Price ran until he reached the main road. From there he hitchhiked into the city with a college-age kid he was pretty sure was drunk. He got out once the guy screeched to a stop, nearly ramming into a parking meter, and stumbled behind the nearest McDonalds to puke. Keeping his head down, he walked down one alley, then another before his nerves finally hit his knees. He collapsed on a bus bench with some politician's smiling face peeling from the back. It was raining, but not much. He spared a glance at his surroundings and noted that it had gotten dark. There weren't any stars. Belatedly, he looked around for anyone who might see him and call the police. For a wanted man trying to keep a low profile, he wasn't exactly the picture of innocence right now; but the only other people on this stretch of road were two homeless women huddled next to a sputtering fire. When one of them caught his eye, he quickly turned his head and pretended not to notice.

Ignoring them, he returned to the matter at hand and withdrew a revolver from his coat along with the stolen phial. Price had never thought of himself as a gun-toting kind of guy, but living in that seedy neighborhood had meant taking certain precautions. It was cheap and old and the trigger was sticky, but it would serve his purposes. Flicking open the chamber, he tipped the three bullets into his hand. He selected one and dropped it into the tube. In the dim light, it looked black. It would not take long to set. A few hours would do, but a full day would be best.

Price leaned back against the bench to rest. He noted absently that the homeless women had vanished. He stood unsteadily to claim their abandoned fire. He slumped against the wall, glad for the warmth, and brought his knees to his chest. Sighing, he closed his eyes and began to doze lightly.

Only a matter of time now.


	2. Chapter 2

_"_ _You talk too much."_

 _Kicking Drake off the edge of a platform didn't sit well with Eddie, but he couldn't bring himself to wholly regret it either. He wasn't a hateful guy by nature, but the man was a dick who had ruined his life and the lives of countless others. He'd lied, exploited, and murdered innocent people. Now he was a dead dick who Riot couldn't use to pilot the rocket anymore. He was just a limp, useless dick._

 _Now all he needed was to find Venom and they could hunt down Riot before he could find a new host. He had to hurry before before the stupid parasit—_

 _His vision turned white as something slammed into his back and punched through his chest. He choked on his next breath and wheezed. His knees hurt. He must've hit the ground, but he didn't remember falling. He looked down at spear in his chest and gagged. It was like Venom, but not. This thing was cold and detached from Riot, like it had never been a part of the symbiote. It had used its own flesh as a tool. At least when Venom killed people, it had the decency not to pull its own teeth out and throw them. This was gross. It was like that scene from Alien. Heh, Alien._

 _Distantly, Eddie thought he should be more worried about the fact that there was a giant hole in his chest rather than how gross he thought it looked; but he never really could stand the sight of blood and there was a lot of it now. Maybe that was why he felt dizzy. He would have fallen over completely, but that would probably just have hurt more._

 _A hand closed around the collar of his shirt and lifted him up to meet Riot's …. eyes(?)_

 _"_ _You are nothing." Oh that's nice. Kick a guy while he's down. Not like he was dying or anything._

 _The thought brought him up short. He was dying. Fuck._

 _The realization struck him almost as painfully as the ground did when Riot dropped him. He was going to die…and so was everyone else. Annie, Dan, Mrs. Chen. And Venom. He had failed them. He'd failed the whole world. Game over man._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _At least he could say he'd tried his damned hardest. He'd fought with everything he had to save a bunch of people who would probably never know or care. It hadn't been enough, but it was something._

 _Eddie stretched his hand towards the edge of the platform. He wasn't really sure why. He didn't honestly expect Venom to come back for him. He wasn't that deluded. Eddie knew he was a means to an end for the symbiote. Venom had said that he had changed its mind about letting its people destroy Earth, but that didn't make Eddie anything special. Not special enough for Venom to risk its life to save him anyway. He couldn't really blame it. They hardly knew each other._

 _His hand fell slack against the grating. He no longer had the strength to hold it up. His thoughts were getting fuzzy as consciousness drifted away from him. His emotions were muddled. They confused him. He was certainly afraid of dying, but….after everything he'd been through in the last few days…..the silence in his head was almost worse._

 _He was going to die alone….It was more terrifying now that he knew what it was like not to be alone._

 _For all the trouble it'd caused…even if it had abandoned him in the end…he had to admit…he'd gotten rather…attached…to the damn…parasite…_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 ** _"_** ** _Eddie!"_**

.

.

.

 ** _"_** ** _It's alright Eddie. I got us. I will finish this."_**

.

.

.

 ** _"_** ** _Have a nice life!"_**

.

.

.

 ** _"_** ** _Goodbye, Eddie."_**

 _"_ _Venom, no!"_

"No!" Eddie bolted up in his chair, nearly falling out of it in the process. He felt a phantom pain zing through his chest and he grabbed at the front of his shirt with shaking hands. It was just a dream. Slowly regaining control of his breathing, he suddenly became aware of the concern practically radiating off of Venom. His shout seemed to have woken the symbiote, as it was now on high alert for any immediate threats. While Eddie couldn't hear every thought running through his symbiote's head, he managed to catch something along the lines of, **"Vigilant….fragile…idiot."**

Eddie wasn't sure he liked being thought of as a fragile idiot. Besides, nothing was even attacking. It was just some dumb nightmare.

"Alright. S'okay, calm down V."

Venom directed a questioning thought at him.

"Just had a nightmare that's all. But don't—"

He didn't even get the sentence out before Venom had sorted through his memories for the dream. Finding it, the symbiote grumbled deep in his chest.

 **"** **There is no need to fear Riot or my kind now. They cannot hurt us. We made sure."**

"Yeah, I know."

 **"** **They will not hurt you again Eddie. We will not let them."**

Eddie smiled at the black tendrils curling protectively around his hand. He knew that the threat of Drake and some mass invasion was behind them now. He knew that Riot was no longer a threat to them.

It was strange though.

As far as nightmares go, the part when he'd died hadn't been the most terrifying. He had been scared certainly, especially when he thought the symbiote had abandoned him, but he was terrified when he thought he'd seen Venom burn up.

Quite strange that that was the part that woke him up screaming.

Not that Venom needed to know that. It was possible to keep some secrets after all.

—

Eddie had fallen asleep at his laptop. Again. For the past few weeks it seemed as though he was trying to avoid sleep altogether. He said it was because of the new job. He needed to make a good impression with his first story and seeing as it involved the Life Foundation, he had a personal stake in it to get it right.

While a break in at the abandoned lab was certainly interesting, it hardly posed much of a threat or even relevance to them. The place had been scrubbed clean. Nothing was taken. In all likelihood it had been some delinquent offspring. The story did not require nearly as much focus or effort as Eddie was putting into it. Their time would be much better served elsewhere. Besides, their body was still recovering from their fight with Riot. Venom had been much weakened then and had been unable to repair all the damage done to its host's body. Something which it bristled at for its inability to mend, let alone protect its home, but Eddie said it could wait and there was no real harm.

Venom disagreed. While the damage remaining was minimal, it was still enough to incite _fear dreams_ in its human. While Eddie concealed many of his thoughts about that night, Venom could tell it bothered him still. In all honesty, it too had been shaken. To be separate from one's host is one thing, but to have achieved such perfect symbiosis, only to be torn away was more pain than Venom thought it would ever know, until it made its way back onto the platform.

Seeing Eddie so still and pale, arm extended towards it, still hoping it would return. And the blood. Never before had the sight of blood made Venom feel sick, but in that moment, he never wished to see it again. At least not Eddie's. Never Eddie's. Eddie was theirs and no one would harm him or them again.

Venom could understand Eddie's fear. He had died, because Venom had not been there. It was surprised that Eddie had not yet blamed it for what he had suffered. At least, not consciously. Based on what it knew of Eddie's dreams and memories, he had been afraid when Riot had wounded him. Afraid because he was alone. Because Venom had not been there to protect him. Humans are such fragile creatures and it had been stupid for it to have let its guard down. It was Venom's fault that Eddie had been hurt, that Eddie was afraid, that Eddie had di—

Venom still couldn't bring itself to finish that thought. It did not matter. Eddie was healing now. Venom would prove itself to him in time. It would never eat his organs, not even the extra ones. It wouldn't make Eddie eat any humans besides the bad ones. And it would prove to Eddie that the symbiote would protect him, even at the expense of its own life.


	3. Chapter 3

Price silently apologized to Jen as he input her password into the network's database. He would wipe the memory before he left, but the police could trace anything these days. He hoped the bureau would forgive her for having carelessly placed reminders and poor taste in men. Using a computer at the public library to find FBI records really wasn't the best way to go, but what other choice did he have? At least it was closed now. No one would come to question why a scraggly homeless man was sifting through government files.

It took him longer than he would have liked to find what he wanted. There were far too many Edward Brocks living in California for his liking. When he finally found the little bastard, it took still more time to go through all the medical files, arrest records, and grade school report cards to get to his leasing information. There was no clear filing system to them at all. Say what you would about Mr. Drake, but at least his cabinets were in order. At last, he found a scan of Eddie Brock's most recent lease and rent payment. His new place was just uptown, not far from one where Drake's men had attacked him. Certainly not the best part of town. A gunshot or two wouldn't go amiss in those parts. Just another robbery or mugging to someone who's been around them too long. Sure, they'd call the cops, but they'd come slower. Plenty of time to make an escape. It was practically ideal.

Snatching up a book from the nearest shelf, he flipped it open and scribbled down the address in one of the margins. Ripping out the page and stuffing it into his coat pocket, he returned the book to the shelf. No need for anyone to know of his vandalism until some middle schooler put off his book report and found the ending missing from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Turning back to the computer, he input a virus to wipe the system memory and return it to starter function. He hoped it would be enough.

Carefully wiping up his fingerprints with a cleaning rag, he turned to leave. Now that he had involved Jen, he had to be more careful. The last thing he wanted was to incriminate her as an accomplice after he had gone.

Trudging down to the men's bathroom, he checked what little money he had. It wasn't much, but it was enough for the bus fare. He was glad he wouldn't have to walk the whole way. It would be faster and bus drivers that run that late don't ask questions, no matter who you are or what they see.

In the bathroom, he used a sink as a stepping off point to reach the skylight. Hoisting his slight weight up and over, he maneuvered his way out of the building and down to the alley. The bus stop wasn't far. The one he needed was just a few blocks away.

As he walked, he checked behind him to be sure there was no one looking his way, before covertly checking his gun. The bullets were prepped and loaded. The trigger wasn't sticky. The safety flipped.

It was ready.

He just hoped he was.

—

Eddie didn't realize just how tired he was until he'd read the side of the same frozen dinner three times.

"If you're not going to buy anything Eddie, you should get out. You and your "friend" are scaring away all the decent customers."

Eddie turned back to the front of the store, where Mrs. Chen was absorbed in her crossword and very pointedly not looking at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

She peered over the top of her glasses and inclined her head to Eddie's left. A long, black tendril was creeping out from Eddie's sleeve, trying to grab at a box of microwavable churros.

Eddie swatted at Venom, who screeched in surprise as its tendril got caught in the freezer door. The symbiote arm wriggled as it tried to free itself, knocking over boxes of Lean Cuisine. Eddie stared, unaffected, as it smacked against the glass.

"Eddie."

He ignored the deep rumble in his head.

"Eddie all of this food is dead. And cold. It is twice dead."

Eddie started walking towards the counter, smothering a smile as the black rope stretched behind him, tugging at his sleeve.

"Let us out."

"You got yourself into this," Eddie muttered under his breath.

"You alarmed us!"

"You were stealing food."

"We were not stealing."

Eddie turned back to the small, dejected puddle behind the glass.

"We've talked about you coming out in public."

"It is not our fault that your species is primitive."

"Hey, you're the one who stayed."

"Yes. We stayed to experience this world's pleasures, like these re-constituted dough sticks. We did not stay to become like the dough sticks. Release us."

Eddie couldn't help a smirk as he cracked open the freezer door and the tentacle snapped back into his sleeve.

"You could have gotten out on your own you know?"

"We would have had to break the door. We did not wish to be rude."

"Rude? The other day you tore a tree out of the ground so we could eat a squirrel!"

"The tree rat did not belong to anyone."

"You threw the tree onto a car!"

"We did not know that car."

"So?"

Venom directed Eddie's head to the front counter.

"We know her. She provides us with supplies. She does not judge us. We will not anger her by destroying the cold room."

Mrs. Chen was still quietly doing her crossword, hardly paying them any attention, but the longer they looked her way, the more Eddie could feel Venom shrinking into his chest. Eddie had to try very hard not to laugh. Here was an alien, whose species was literally capable of devouring worlds, but when confronted with this tiny, middle-aged, Chinese woman…

"You're scared of her."

Eddie felt outrage radiating off the symbiote.

"We are not."

"You are."

"We are not!"

"You're afraid she'll yell at us like last time."

"She did not let us in for a week!"

"You still talking to yourself Eddie?" Mrs. Chen still hadn't moved, but she'd obviously heard their conversation. Well, half of it at least. No wonder there weren't any other customers. Even without the rubber sludge arm, Eddie looked schizophrenic.

"No, Mrs. Chen. Just trying to decide what to get."

"Well, hurry it up. I'd like to have at least one other customer tonight."

Eddie spread his arms, innocently. "We're loyal customers!"

She raised an eyebrow.

"I. Me. I am." He brought a few frozen dinners, and one box of churros, to the front.

"Hmm."

She scanned the items, tsking every few beeps.

"You should eat better Eddie. Fruits and vegetables."

"I eat fine." Eddie muttered, counting out bills.

She hummed, still unhappy, as she bagged the items. Eddie gave her what he hoped was a winning smile. It was probably more of a sweaty hobo grimace.

"Thanks, Mrs. Chen."

As he was walking out he heard her say, "Just remember Eddie, you're eating for two!"

"Goodnight, Mrs. Chen."

Over their shoulder, Venom gave her a smile. It was almost as bad as Eddie's.

—

Eddie cursed as he dug through his bags. He'd dropped his keys in one of them, but it was impossible to see anything with the outdoor LED on the fritz again. Putting one of the bags between his teeth, he started rifling through the three others. He almost never bought this much at once, but today was a celebration. He'd finished his first article, and more importantly, he'd gotten paid. Hefting one of the heavier bags up to his elbow, he almost lost his balance and braced his shoulder on the doorframe.

"L'ttle 'elp."

"You said we should not come out in public."

Oh, so now it's getting cheeky!

"'Ur 'n 'sshole."

Venom snuck an arm out of the collar of Eddie's ' **disgusting, garbage rat, deserves fire** ,' sweatshirt to take the bag from his teeth.

"Thanks," Eddie mumbled, resuming his search.

Venom reached out another tendril and pulled a chain of keys attached to a mammal's amputated foot from the bag Eddie had ruled out.

"…not a word."

 **"** **Vreheheheheh!"** Venom's laugh rattled in Eddie's skull.

"Shut up." They should've just gone through the busted window by the parking lot. Mr. Fisk said he was going to have that fixed last week, but in the short time he'd been there, Eddie had seen that something was always broken. At least rent was cheap. Well, cheap-ish.

Fitting his key in the lock and toeing the door open, Eddie maneuvered his bags so that when the heavy door inevitably refused to stay open, it would hit his back instead of his food. Because, ya know, priorities. But the impact never came. Eddie looked behind him to see a black web holding the door open. He smiled.

"Thanks, V."

 **"** **Mmm."** The symbiote hummed sleepily in Eddie's mind. No matter how much it tried to deny it, Venom was still recovering from the explosion, the same as its host. Eddie didn't bring it up. Weakness was a sore subject for his dumbass other half. He just tried to look after it without it noticing. It was easier when the symbiote's senses were dulled like this, as it was far more compliant when it was sluggish. For the past few nights, Eddie had, quite hypocritically, coaxed Venom into sleeping while he worked. He could tell Venom didn't like it, hated it even, but was too exhausted to argue. He'd get an earful when it was fully recovered, but this was how it was. He was a reporter. This was how he lived. Wounded aliens can rest, but writers never can. Sleep was for the weak, after all. (Note to self: Never let Venom hear that.)

Venom was already dozing as Eddie dragged his feet upstairs. He wavered a little on the landing as a massive yawn threatened to unbalance him. Okay, so maybe he was weak. Sleep was nice. Sleep good. His next deadline wasn't until next week. Mmm, sleep.

"We should sleep."

"Thought you were sleeping."

"Not us. _Us_."

"That doesn't make sense…" Eddie was almost to his floor.

"You too, Eddie."

"Oh…yeah I will. Just gotta finish researching…something."

"No. Sleep."

"…okay." Maybe he was more compliant now, too. Judging from the warm feeling in his chest, Venom was happy that he'd finally listened. And smug that it had won. Very smug. Dammit.

"We were right."

"Weren't you sleeping?" Eddie grumbled as walked down the hallway to his door.

 **"** **We were—"** Venom cut itself off, and Eddie felt it tense up, suddenly alert.

"Wha-Whoa!" Venom ignored Eddie as it wrapped itself around his chest and legs, pulling them away from the door.

"Someone is here."

Eddie shook off his own exhaustion. "No chance it's the landlord?"

"No. We can hear their heartbeat. They are nervous. And sweaty. They are here for us," Venom growled, curling tighter around Eddie.

Eddie thought he understood why Venom was so defensive. If he'd spent four months being poked and prodded and squashed into various beakers, he wouldn't want to risk going back to that either. It must have been awful. Not to mention being trapped in a lab with Carlton Drake, all day every day. After all that, he wouldn't want another nervous, sweaty loser chasing after him.

"You are also a nervous, sweaty loser."

"Yeah, well, Drake was a bigger one," Eddie whispered.

"I thought you said size did not matter?"

Despite the light tone, Venom's whole form rippled with tension. It was curled so tight around his chest, he could barely breath and tendrils were creeping further down his arms.

"Yeah, bud, I guess I did say that." Using jokes to hide fear. Venom was getting more like him every day. Eddie could admit to himself that he too felt no small amount of fear at the idea of Venom being taken away. It was the same kind of fear he felt when he had that dream. The same fear that he had felt on that platform. The clawing, empty feeling of having his symbiote ripped away. He never wanted to feel that again. He couldn't imagine what it had felt like to Venom. He could (arguably) live without Venom, but it needed a host to live. No wonder they were apprehensive. Even if it was just one guy, Drake had only been one guy too. Well, more or less.

 **"** **He is not like us. He is alone. Easy kill."** Venom's tone had darkened again as it picked up on the fear in Eddie's thoughts.

"Alright then," Eddie said, as Venom overtook his body. "Let's see who's come to visit."

—

Venom was afraid. Fear was not something it had felt often before coming to Life on Earth. It was not used to the feeling. It did not like it. It was stupid. Unreasonable. Illogical. Like how Eddie felt about spiders, heights, and women. Only one of those fears was valid.

And yet, Venom was afraid. It knew it was foolish. It would not be taken from Eddie. One human could not harm its host. It tried to seem confident and made a half-hearted joke, but it did not help. It could feel Eddie's fear. Fear of a repetition of what happened with Riot. Fear of Venom failing him again.

 **"** **He is not like us. He is alone. Easy kill."** It tried to reassure him. It wished its own fear of failure would be silent. But Eddie was appeased. He believed it would protect him. And it would.

"Alright then. Let's see who's come to visit."

Venom fully overtook Eddie's body, effectively shielding him from whatever fool had come to challenge them.

They approached the door. Unlocking it would alert the intruder. They kicked it open. The door came off its hinges with a loud creak and a snap, and thudded on the floor.

A startled yelp sounded from behind the sofa and a gunshot went off.

The bullet shot wide and hit the wall to their left.

They stalked over to the sofa in three strides.

A second shot went off. The bullet grazed their face. It should have deflected, but it scratched. And burned. They ignored it.

They reached behind the sofa and grabbed the intruder by the throat. His eyes were wide. The gun shook in his hand. Venom felt pleasure at his fear.

Its jaw unhinged.

The man screamed.

The gun discharged.

Point blank.

And then it burned. It burned! It burned like fire! Pain! Pain?! It wanted to shrink away.

Away! Away! Get away!

The bullet tore through it.

The man slipped from their grasp.

Through it. Like fire.

They fell to the ground.

Burned through.

Instinct drove Venom back.

Clean through.

The bullet hit Eddie. Venom screamed.


	4. Chapter 4

Price fell back against the couch, hyperventilating as his knees gave out. His nerves had almost gotten to him. The first two rounds had missed completely. If it hadn't been point blank, all his hard work would have been for nothing. He'd never have made it out of that room, let alone the country. The freak would have torn him apart before he could say "non-extradition." He cursed his shaking hands. If he'd been more steady, he would have had bullets to spare and he could finish Brock off quickly. As it was, he didn't dare approach the dying man.

He wasn't an idiot. The symbiote was dangerous while it still had a body to command, so he kept his distance and waited. His plan was makeshift at best, but he'd done the math. All of his research indicated that if a body was damaged to the extent that the energy to repair it was no longer efficient, the alien would abandon it. The compound he used was designed to act like liquid fire, so the symbiote should instinctively flee. It would be weakened by the bullet and disoriented once it abandoned the host, giving him the opportunity to capture it. With his jury-rigged containment vessel, he would be able to get the thing to the buyers before it recovered enough to unleash hell.

And it would unleash hell. He pitied the poor bastards who thought they had any control over a creature they barely understood. But that wasn't his problem.

No, his problem was Brock. He was wheezing on the floor and he looked like he was trying to say something. Maybe he was begging for his life or pleading with the symbiote. _"Help me please I'm so scared I'm gonna shit myself!_ " Price chuckled a bit. The situation called for a little lightening up. He almost would have laughed at Brock's choking, if it wasn't getting annoying. Call him self-absorbed, but the other man's dying breaths were giving him a headache. Maybe he was in shock.

The last couple weeks had been rough, alright?! He was entitled to his Bond villain origin story. He'd been forced to live on the streets with the kind of people his institute had been using as lab rats. Becoming one of the expendables had been the final insult. The night a crusty old man had offered him half of some disgusting garbage he called food was the night Price had decided that Eddie Brock had to die.

All he wanted was peace and comfort and maybe recognition. And that bastard reporter had ruined it all. But he could build again. Once this horrible night was over, he'd be free of his past and he'd get to settle down in comfort. If Brock would just stop moaning and die already, he could get on with it.

Price frowned. Checking the clock on Brock's microwave, he thought the symbiote really should have left its host body by now. Surely it must know that the damage was irreparable. In terms of the flesh bags symbiotes used for their rides, Eddie Brock had been totaled.

He circled the twitching man and stared. His poor excuse for an airtight container, which was little more than a souped-up beaker with a lid, drooped as he let some of the tension out of his muscles.

Logically, he knew he should be cautious, but he really couldn't feel all that threatened by this scrawny, sweaty man covered in blood. He settled in a crouch. It was pitiful really. If the symbiote was anything like the shape of its container, it was quite a sad thing to deliver to mobsters. Maybe they wouldn't be slaughtered after all.

It really was strange though. Even the weakest of symbiotes should have had the strength or at least the brains to have left the host by now…

—

Venom could not feel. It knew it was still connected to Eddie's nervous system and that it was still functional, but still it could not feel. It felt numb. Distant. Confused.

It had been aware of pain, but it couldn't remember how it had gotten there, or where it had gone. Everything felt sluggish and hazy. It knew something was wrong. The _awful tearing burning screaming_ sort of wrong it had only felt once before, when Drake's rocket had exploded. It could not feel the burn now though. It could not really feel Eddie either.

Its mind snapped back to reality.

 ** _"_** ** _Eddie."_**

It could not feel Eddie. It was still with Eddie, but not connected as they should be. _They_ were not _we._ It had detached within him somehow. But why—?

As Venom reached out to reconnect with Eddie, it felt a searing pain and drew back with a cry. It burned! Oh, Thirteen Hells of Klyntarea it burned! It was worse than the fire, because it was inside and eating and picking away. It was destroying them.

It's first reaction was panic, because **'Frankenstein's creature is correct. Fire bad, Eddie!'** But then it remembered the last time it panicked. It remembered how the burning got in. How it had let it in, because it was afraid.

It had let the man who smelled like Life and death hurt Eddie. And Eddie was still hurting. And Venom wasn't there. Again.

It pushed past its fear and instinct and reconnected with its host. This time it was prepared, but the pain was still intense.

 ** _"_** ** _Eddie?"_** it tried to keep the fear out of its voice.

 _"…_ _V?"_ Even in their shared mind, Eddie sounded weak and pained. He was in so much pain and he was so afraid. Venom forced itself to think.

 _"_ _C…can you…fix us?"_

 ** _"_** ** _I will try."_**

Venom tried not to think of the consequences and surged towards the wound, so small a thing for so much pain, but it could barely access the damage before it was forced back. The fire was blinding and hot and it hurt so _so much._

It tried again.

And again.

But it could not bear it long enough to heal.

 ** _"_** ** _We…I cannot. It burns too much."_** It sounded nearly as exhausted as Eddie.

 _"_ _It…burned you?"_ Even now, Eddie sounded worried. _"What kind of firepower is this guy packing?"_

 ** _"_** ** _He is packing fire._** "

Eddie made a sound in the back of his throat that may have been laughter. Venom could not see what was so funny. It tasted blood in their mouth.

It was starting to panic again.

 ** _"_** ** _Don't worry Eddie. I got us._** "

It meant to sound reassuring, in no small part to itself. It hadn't the slightest clue as to how it would save its Eddie, but thought it had succeeded in being comforting, when it felt their muscles seize up. It was the same panic it had been trying to shield Eddie from, pulsing through their veins.

 _"…_ _.no."_ Eddie's voice was still weak, but firm. _"Don't."_

And Venom forgot the intruder circling at their feet and laughing. It forgot the fire and the blood. It forgot all the danger to itself and all the threats that were still there. Because for the first time, it couldn't understand Eddie at all.

 ** _"_** ** _What?"_**

 _"_ _Don't…try to fix it again. You said it burned. Please, you can't…not again. If it burns, it'll kill you"_

 ** _"_** ** _Not as fast as the hole in your chest is killing you."_** Venom tried to keep the harshness from its tone, but Eddie was being difficult, and _now was not the time_. It couldn't just lay down and let them die. It had to do something to save them. What did Eddie expect it to do?

 _"_ _Go."_

Venom froze as the tired word echoed in their head.

 ** _"_** ** _What?"_**

 _"_ _Run. Please, just run."_

There had been many times in Venom's relatively long life that it had been angry. It had mostly been over petty things like who got which host, who had the bigger kill, particular nicknames which will go unmentioned. There had been very few times that it had gotten well and truly angry.

When it did get angry though, it was not like most of its kind. Their anger revolved around destruction and bloodshed, which Venom had always associated with happier times. Venom had a different kind of anger. It was the quiet sort of anger that hotshots like Riot never understood. It was cold and ruthless and deadlier than any fury that burned.

Venom was angry now.

 ** _"_** ** _What did you say?"_**

 _"_ _That guy's here for you, V. You've gotta—"_

 ** _"_** ** _You expect me to abandon us?"_**

 _"_ _You said it yourself…you can't fix us…"_

 ** _"_** ** _We…I can fix us!"_**

 _"_ _Not without getting hurt! We don't know what that stuff was, but if it can hurt us, it can kill you!"_

 ** _"_** ** _If I leave, it will kill you!"_**

 _"_ _Which is why you have to go—"_

 ** _"_** ** _No!"_**

 _"—_ _before you die with me!"_

 ** _"_** ** _Enough! I am not leaving you again!"_**

That silenced Eddie.

 _"_ _The hell are you talking about?"_ Eddie was wheezing; with the effort to breath or with mounting irritation, Venom couldn't be sure. Between the scorching pain of the injury itself and Venom's concentrated effort on not running away screaming, their mental link was suffering. It's own mind was starting to get blurry. It wasn't even sure if they were still _we_ , or if they were _them_ now _._

It tried very hard not to think it was because Eddie was fading.

 ** _"_** ** _We will not fail us again. Riot has made you afraid. You were hurt because we were not there. You are still afraid because you think we will abandon us. You do not think we can protect you from those who come for us, but we can. We promise. We are not you and I. We are we. We will not run."_** Venom knew it was rambling, but it couldn't help it. It could barely sense Eddie's presence anymore and it felt like it was about to lose its goddamned mind. It was happening again. Eddie was dying and it was all its fault. Desperation clawed at it. Venom prepared itself to go back to the wound and fix it, no matter how much it burned. It began to concentrate itself back at Eddie's ribs—

Eddie choked, his back rising off the floor. He squeezed his eyes shut, and Venom's consciousness was assaulted with a barrage of emotions. Anger, frustration, pain, and above-all an overwhelming sense of fear; not for himself, but for Venom. _Fire falling screaming loss pain gone alone alone alone._ All the words Eddie was too exhausted to say, or even think, hit it like a bus made of raw emotions. If Venom had a respiratory system of its own, it would have knocked its breath away.

Venom now knew the cause of its Eddie's fear. He had been afraid, not of Venom abandoning him, but of losing Venom. He was less afraid of his own death than the symbiote's. Venom had said it before and it would say it again: its Eddie was an idiot.

Just because it knew the reason for the fear dreams now, didn't mean it could ever possibly understand them. What kind of thick-headed, pea-brained moron put the survival of an alien over himself?! And no, it was not being a hypocrite! Eddie was far more breakable and fragile and precious than it was. He was the best host, on this world or any world, and he was more worried about it than himself! Eddie thought that _he_ had failed _it._ He thought that he should've been more careful and not let Venom get anywhere near fire. He actually blamed himself for Venom getting burned. Dumbass! If what happened with Riot was anyone's fault, it was Venom's. It thought that was obvious! What part of taking over his body, making him sick, and using him to stop an alien invasion of its own kind, was possibly its Eddie's fault?!

Venom's mind was still reeling when Eddie took his chance.

Using whatever strength he had left, he pushed Venom away. It was caught off guard, and felt itself being shoved out, its connection with Eddie snapping like a wire pulled too tight. In a way, it hurt so much more than being ripped away from its host, because this was Eddie forcing it away. It caught one last strained thought before their minds parted.

 _"_ _Don't let that fucker get you."_

Venom barely registered Eddie's final words over the sheer terror building inside it. Eddie was forcing it out. Eddie was alone. Eddie was dying. Eddie would not let it save him!

Venom was ejected from Eddie's body with enough force to send it hurtling across the room, past a very startled nerd, and into the kitchen, skidding across the countertop. It's momentum carried it through several dirty dishes, a discarded pizza box, and the toaster oven, scattering bits of kitchenware all over the floor. When it finally stopped, its impact was enough to crack the kitchen backsplash. Eddie was gonna be pissed. They'd just replaced that toaster oven.

Venom slopped to the floor, slightly dazed. If the sudden separation from its host hadn't been jarring enough, the concussive force involved in its impression of a pancake certainly was. It was lucky it didn't have a head right now to suffer blunt force trauma. If it had, Venom was sure they would have one hell of a migraine, and Eddie would call it a parasite for the rest of the day just to get even.

Eddie.

Just as it had the first time, Venom's dazed state gave way to anger and panic. From where it was crouched under the fallen pizza box, it could see Eddie. He looked too small and too still to be its host. Sure, Eddie had always been short and pasty, but he usually so full of highly-caffeinated energy. Even sitting down, Eddie was never still. He would tap his foot or bounce his knee, sometimes chewing on his lip when he was trying to think, or playing with that awkward patch of hair behind his ear that stuck out funny. This Eddie was like stone. His arms and legs sat like they were weighed with chains. His skin was grey and his eyes were glassy. The only color left in him was the slowly growing pool of deep red spreading from his left side. If it couldn't see the staccato rise and fall of his chest, Venom would think it had lost him already.

Movement to the right of Eddie caught its attention. The lanky dumpster nerd's eyes were blown wide. His fingers tightened on a glass cylinder, reminding Venom uncomfortably of the Life Foundation's sample containers. His bloodshot eyes darted around the apartment, searching. He hadn't seen where it had landed. He thoughtlessly stepped closer to Eddie, nearly crushing his fingers under his dirty heel. Venom saw red.

That man had hurt its Eddie. He had tried to kill its partner and take it away from them. Venom would not run from him. He had its host's blood on his hands, and by any gods there were, he would pay.

Venom slunk around the edge of the counter, keeping to its shadow in the dim light. It was starting to feel the effects of the incompatible atmosphere, but it didn't care. All that mattered now was how slow Eddie's breaths were getting and how close that man was standing over him. Venom coiled itself in the darkness, tense with anticipation. The man was turning in paranoid circles, the glass prison held in front of him like a shield. As if that could protect him.

Venom waited until the man was facing it. It wanted to see the fear in his eyes. It struck with blinding speed, swatting the container aside. The glass shattered against the wall. The man choked on a scream as Venom slammed into his chest, wrapping sinewy tendrils around his throat. Its strength wasn't what it usually was, so it didn't immediately crush his windpipe. Between the Packed Fire and the exposure to the oxygen-rich atmosphere, it felt drained. What strength its grip had was ebbing. Soon the man would recover from his shock and Venom would be too weak to resist him. He would capture Venom and leave Eddie to die. That was unacceptable. There was only one, rather unappealing, option.

With no small amount of reluctance, Venom sank into the man's skin. Every fiber of its being rejected symbiosis and it shuddered with revulsion. How Riot could stand to cohabitate with one of the rats of the Life Foundation, Venom would never know; for that's what this man, Jeffrey Price, was. A former scientist down on his luck. Lost his career. Lost his girlfriend. Wanted for first degree murder. The kinds of things that can happen to anyone.

But then he thought selling a symbiote would fix all his problems. What an idiot.

Venom burned through the man's life and memories as it established a rudimentary bond. Nothing that would stick, just enough to keep it from suffocating while it did what it came to do. After all, it wasn't looking for a new host in this man. It was going for the kill.

In the back of their new, shared consciousness, Price was begging and screaming as Venom ripped through all those vital, juicy bits inside him. The body (not their, never their) contorted and convulsed as Venom exacted its people's revenge. In terms of justice, the laws of its kind were simple: an eye for an eye, and whatever more you can take.

Even Price's mental cries were breaking off into a thick gurgling as Venom tore him apart from the inside out. In a last, desperate attempt at life, a memory was brought to the surface of their shared mind.

A supply cabinet with a false back. A box filled with carefully labelled vials. Experiments. Failsafes. Poisons and antidotes. Scientists were nothing if not thorough. For every step forward, they made sure they could still step back.

 ** _"_** ** _Where?"_** Venom growled.

 _"_ _L-Life. The whole supply's there. You can dump it all. I'm sorry. We never should have thought we could control you. P-please. Let me go."_

 ** _"_** ** _Which of them fixes this?"_** The Venom's voice was loud and sharp, but it had stopped its attack for the time being.

 _"_ _Wha—"_

 ** _"_** ** _Eddie. How do I save Eddie?"_**

 _"_ _The host body?"_ Price sounded genuinely confused.

 ** _"_** ** _My host! My Eddie! You will tell me how to fix him, before I crush your spine!"_**

Price shuddered. _"The antidote is labeled Vr40. It's clear, a tall tube, bottom of the box. Needs to be administered by injection. Now please—"_

 ** _"_** ** _Your life was forfeit the moment you tried to take what is mine."_**

 _"_ _But—"_ Price broke off as a sickening crack echoed around the apartment. His limp body fell to the floor.

Venom had not killed him. Not yet. His body could still be of some use. It had snapped his spine, effectively disconnecting the man's primary motor functions from his brain. Ordinarily, Venom would simply use the brain's linkage to the nervous system to control a body, but if it had to listen to Eddie's attacker beg for his life for a moment longer, it really might have killed him then and there. So while it was rather unorthodox, Venom seeped into Price's nerve endings directly, and though the control was shakier and less precise than what it was used to, it was worlds better than hearing the murderer's whining. It would leave Price to think about what he'd done while it used his body to undo it all. Rather a fitting end for a mad scientist, in Venom's opinion.

With its anger satisfied and having put Price on mute, so to speak, Venom returned to the matter at hand.

Eddie was still breathing, but it was labored. Sticky blood had begun to clot on the floor beside him, but fresh blood still oozed from the wound. Venom grabbed a nearby dishtowel, the cleanest it could find, and pressed it against the wound, hard. Eddie sucked in a breath through his teeth and tears formed in the corners of his eyes. Venom hissed as blood soaked through the rag and stained its borrowed hand. The effects of the Packed Fire were no less outside of its Eddie's body. It could not hope to help him like this.

Their only hope now was in the ruins of the Life Foundation. There was some kind of irony Venom didn't bother looking for in that.

 **"** **We will return, Eddie,"** Venom hated how its voice sounded like Price's. It was high and low in all the wrong places, and did not suit it at all.

 **"** **We will be back to fix this. We will be fine."**

Venom wasn't sure if Eddie could hear it. He was, blessedly, unconscious, far from the pain of the Fire, but also so far from Venom. It hoped he had not gone too far. So far that it could not follow.

Venom pushed those thoughts from its head. It would save Eddie, they would have a _long_ talk about which of them was in need of protecting, and they could go back to their life of poor hygiene, well-meaning lectures from Anne, and eating street thugs. All it had to do was get a bottle and come back. Simple.

Venom secured the rag against Eddie's side and looked into his pale face.

 **"** **I'll be back."** Venom squeezed Eddie's hadn't reassuringly, (as it had seen Dr. Morrison comfort Aline during her mother's heart transplant last week on _The Sands of Mortality._ It was an avid fan of soap operas, and found them rather educational.)

Venom stood and hurried to the parking lot as fast as it could on wobbly stick legs. While a full transformation may have been faster, it did not relish that particular kind of…intimacy with a host it despised. Besides, it would have been difficult to keep that form without access to higher brain functions. The bike would have to do.

As Venom peeled out of the parking lot, its subconscious plotted out the fastest route to the Life Foundation and possible means of entry. It's conscious mind, which really should not have been the part in charge of any kind of intelligence, was screaming what any musician would recognize as a steady D flat. Despite the outward appearance of having a plan, which was in all fairness rather simple, it didn't change the fact that it had left Eddie behind, hurt and unprotected. Even though it knew it had to be done, the feeling of wrongness and betrayal did not leave it.

It fought the cold feeling spreading from the heart that was not theirs and squeezed the accelerator. It sped through three red lights and ignored the car horns of whoever was out at that time of the night. As the bay came into view, Venom began to recognize landmarks from its own memories. The Life Foundation Institute overlooked the water on the opposite shore, around the cape. Even from that distance, Venom could make out the outline of the once-renowned laboratory in the dim street light.

It punched the gas.


End file.
